How to Coupon Series: How to Organize Your Coupons
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COUPONING 101: HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR COUPONS
The two worst feelings a couponer can experience are discovering an expired coupon in your stash for something you purchase regularly, and discovering a still valid coupon after you just purchased that item. Both mistakes are heartbreaking, even if they only cost you 25 cents, and can usually be attributed to one thing: an unorganized coupon collection.
Below are a few of the most common organizational methods, any one of which can be used to transform you from a “coupon catastrophe” into a “coupon queen.”
- THE THREE RING BINDER – This is the most common method, and it usually involves a binder filled with plastic baseball card holder pages (found in the sports card aisle). The coupons fit nicely in the little plastic sleeves, and are usually organized by general category of product. Categories in my own binder include dairy, cleaning supplies, hygiene, cereal, and many others.
If you use the binder method, look for a binder that zips up so you don’t loose any of your precious cargo.
- THE DAY PLANNER – Similar to the three-ring binder, the day planner allows you to take your entire coupon stash to the grocery store (not that you couldn’t take your binder to the store, but it might be tricky). Instead of baseball card sleeves, the day planner uses plastic pages normally reserved for business cards.
A word of advice: If you’re taking your day planner (or binder) to the store, be sure to leave some room in the front or back where you’ll store coupons for items being purchased that day.
- THE ACCORDIAN FILE – Although not as “at-a-glance” friendly as the three-ring binder or day planner, the accordion file can get the job done.
- THE RECIPE BOX – This old standby worked for your mom, and it should work for you, too. Just like the accordion file, this storage system isn’t the easiest to flip through and view coupons in a hurry, but the durability and retro-factor of the recipe box helps to make up for the inconvenience.
- COUPON CADDIES – If you don’t feel like lugging your entire coupon collection to the store each week, you’ll want to invest in a coupon caddy, which is any mini-filing system that can be used during your shopping trip.
A caddy is handy for those who have a master filing system at home, and don’t remove coupons from that system until after they’ve created their weekly shopping list. If your coupon collection numbers in the thousands, that’s probably a good idea. I recommend sorting the coupons you’ll be using that day by aisle and then, as you place items in your cart, place those coupons in a separate part of your caddy.
So there you have it. Those are just a few of the most common methods for organizing your coupons, at home and in the store. Other systems do exist, including crossovers and hybrids of multiple systems, but it’s up to you to find the one that works best for you!
